NC State to add two years to Kevin Keatts’ contract

NC State’s Keatts: ‘Kevin Keatts is a winner’

VIDEO: NC State Wolfpack new head basketball coach Kevin Keatts talks about his history of coaching winning programs during an introductory press conference at Reynolds Coliseum in Raleigh, NC, Sunday, March 19, 2017.
By

Up Next

VIDEO: NC State Wolfpack new head basketball coach Kevin Keatts talks about his history of coaching winning programs during an introductory press conference at Reynolds Coliseum in Raleigh, NC, Sunday, March 19, 2017.
By

Updated:Friday, 10:45 a.m. with the NCSU board of trustees vote.

N.C. State and basketball coach Kevin Keatts have agreed to a two-year contract extension.

The deal, which will have the same financial terms as the contract reworked in 2018, was approved by the school’s board of trustees on Friday and it extends Keatts’ contract through the 2025-26 season.

Keatts, 47, has won 45 games in two seasons and led the Wolfpack to the NCAA tournament in his first season in 2018. He inherited a program from former coach Mark Gottfried in 2017 which had back-to-back losing seasons and eventually ended up in an NCAA probe for the recruitment of former star Dennis Smith Jr.

Explore where you live.

Keatts’ deal was reworked, with a raise to $2.7 million annually, last December as a reward for his successful first season and also as security through the NCAA issues, since neither he nor his staff were involved in any of the previous problems.

N.C. State went 21-12 in Keatts’ first season and knocked off three top-10 teams (Duke, UNC and Arizona) en route to the NCAA tournament.

The Wolfpack went 24-12 last season but was left off the NCAA tournament bubble and played in the NIT. In two years, Keatts has a 20-16 ACC record.

N.C. State received a Notice of Allegations from the NCAA in July, for four violations related to Smith’s recruitment and tenure, and has until Oct. 7 to respond. A meeting with the NCAA’s Committee on Infractions will be scheduled, likely within the next three months, after N.C. State’s submits its response.